LESSON 13 June 18-24
Here God's plan to save sinful men
is made simple, clear, and appealing to
our reason.
Every one of us knows that he
cannot, in, himself, live a life in
harmony with the law of God. What
was originally a law of life to us
became, through the disobedience of
our first parents and our own
disobedience, the law of sin and
death. Heaven has made provision
that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus will set us free from the law of sin
and death. Jesus Christ came "in the
likeness of sinful flesh" and
condemned sin in the flesh. He did
this by living a righteous life through
constant dependence upon His Father
and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Now, the righteousness of the law can
be fulfilled in us as it was in Him.
The requirement on our part is that
we walk not after the flesh but after the
Spirit. He continues to show us that it
is simply contrary to our nature for us
to be at peace with God or to be in
harmony with His law. Thus we cannot
please God in our own nature and in
our own strength. But please notice
that the purpose for which God sent
His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
was "that the righteousness of the law
might be fulfilled in us." (See Romans
8:1-9.) At first glance that may seem
contrary to the title of this lesson,
"We Are Righteous by Faith." On the
contrary, the title declares the only
possible way by which man can be
righteous. "Because the carnal mind is
enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be" (verse 7). It is as plain
and simple as that. We cannot obey
God's righteous law. We cannot live
righteously. And it is not a question of
trying a little harder, praying a little
longer, reading the Bible more fre-
quently. What, then, is the solution?
The only solution is that which
Heaven has already provided by
sending Jesus, the eternal Son of God,
in human form and flesh, with the
decision announced before He came,
"Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God"
(Heb. 10:9). In this flesh He dwelt as
the God-man, living in perfect
harmony with His Father's will 'in all
things. After some 33 years He
suffered and died;as the be
-
arer of the
sins of the whole world. Because He
bore our sins, He became the first one
in all eternity to partake of that
dreadful cup of separation from His
Father. The burden of that separation
broke His heart as He gave up. His life
on the cross. Divine power was
rightfully His as God, because He had
not sinned as man. So death could not
hold Him in its grasp. He arose victor
over death and the grave and
ascended to His Father to become our
Intercessor, our Mediator, our High
Priest. When He has ceased His work
of mediation and all decisions have
been made for eternal life or for
eternal death, He will come for His
own. They will never be separated
from Him again, never shut away from
communion with Him because of
disobedience.
He who accepts this provision which.
God has made in Jesus Christ
recognizes that in this alone is there
the possibility of his being counted
righteous and made righteous—here
is the means to be righteous by faith.
As we have said earlier this quarter,
faith is not our savior. Faith does not
earn salvation. It is the simple matter
that if we do not believe we will not be
expecting anything from God and He
will force nothing upon us.
As we move into our study this
week, let us remember the cry of the
father of the lad possessed with a
dumb spirit: "Lord I believe, help thou
mine unbelief." And let us remember
also the inspired assurance, "You can
never perish while you do
this—never."—The
Desire of Ages,
p. 429.